To Thine Own Self
"To Thine Own Self" is the eleventh episode of the fifth season of the FX original series Sons of Anarchy, and the series' sixty-fourth episode overall. Summary Jax scrambles to put his affairs in order, while Nero handles business with his old crew. Plot Tara tells Jax about her job offer, if "we can get through this Otto mess." Tara commends Jax for his loyalty to the club, but says it's time for them to move on. "After yesterday, I can't help but feel like this is some sort of last chance for us," she says. She has to give her answer to the recruiters by the end of the week. He wants to talk to the lawyer first about Otto's ability to make her an accessory to murder. Gemma brings Clay coffee at home in the morning. He's feeling hopeful about them. She asks him to put LuAnne's stuff back in the garage. She mentions Tara's been volunteering at Stockton State Prison‏‎ and wanted something for Otto. Ally Lowen (Robin Weigert) meets with Tara, Jax, Chibs and Bobby. She worries about the form Tara lied on to get to volunteer in the prison. She confirms Otto's killing the nurse makes him useless to the Feds for RICO, but Tara could be in serious trouble. Jax doesn't want to tell the club yet. He tells Chibs to lock down the deal with Alvarez and Lin, so they can get clear of the cartel. Guards open Otto's cell and let in a man in prison garb (Donal Logue) and with a metal pipe. He cracks Otto across the face with the pipe, then finishes up by beating the defenseless Otto bloody. Jax arrives at the garage and tells Juice he needs Clay's legal documents today. Then he goes into the office and asks Gemma what the legal documents in the safe are. She says insurance, marriage, birth and death certificates. He tells her he needs it today. She wants to know why and mentions Tara at Stockton and the cross she brought her. Jax explains the reason he didn't kill Clay was because the Feds had a RICO case against the club and he needed Clay to seal the Irish guns deal to keep the Feds at bay. He explains what Tara was doing visiting Otto, and how he used the cross. Gemma understands the urgency. Bobby and Chibs come for Jax as the new Diosa opening is today. Chibs spoke with Alvarez and Tyler, they're in. Bobby hasn't heard from Lin. Tig responds to Clay's summons to his place. Clay misses him, but Tig points out it's his fault they're not close anymore (because Clay said black gangs shot him, when it was Opie, and Tig ran over Damon Pope's daughter while getting revenge). Clay says he appreciates all his loyalty and won't forget it. "I'm trying to forget it. We done?" Tig says. "I may be forced to create some new opportunities, outside of SAMCRO. If you find yourself at a crossroads with the club, maybe bone tired of watching your president sucking up to the guy who burned your daughter alive, my door would be open," Clay says. "What are you working, Clay?" "Just trying to stay alive, brother. You know how that is." At the hospital, Tara watches a surgery, missing it. The relocated Diosa opening day party is in full swing, with ladies, booze and clients everywhere. Someone wheels Lila out in lingerie, including a satiny bandage cover for her gunshot wound from Frankie. She mentions Nero is out back dealing with some of his old crew who want guns to protect their territory. Nero wants no part of it, but Jax tells Nero he can just sell them guns to make them go away. Nero agrees and they set up a meet. Clay pulls up to the garage and sees Chuckie (Michael Marisi Ornstein) hauling files, which he says are for Gemma about Thomas. Juice leaves when Clay pulls up. When Clay asks, she tells him that she realized Thomas' birthday is in two weeks and pretty much everything she had about him was in the safe. She's going through the files hoping to find something. She sells the lie with a few tears and a little heartbreak, but Clay gets called away and she thinks he didn't buy it. Tara visits Unser after he wraps up chemo. He's unsteady as she takes him to feed the boys. He sits in the hall and asks what she needs. She's asking for perspective. She tells him she has embraced the club, but misses surgery. He's about to offer wisdom when he has to throw up in the hall garbage can. Clay meets with Romeo (Danny Trejo), who tells him Otto killed a nurse and the RICO charge is dead. He also shows Clay his badge and says Jax is trying to end their deal. "We're going to take him out, and anyone who stands in our way," Romeo says. "We suggest you make your move back to the head of the table, before your charter evaporates," Luis (Benito Martinez) adds. Clay wants to try to talk to Jax first. They give him two hours. Chibs, Jax, Tig and Happy go to meet Nero's old gangsters. They pull up in three cars and the Sons get nervous and hop in their station wagon and drive around, pulling donuts and shooting in all directions as the Mexicans shoot at them. Jax goes through a gate and down a hillside, rolling the car several times. "Anyone dead?" he asks. They're not. Then he charges the rest of the way down the hill. Back at the club, Chibs stitches up Happy. Bobby tells Jax he finally heard from Henry Lin. Jax is about to leave with Bobby, when Clay asks for a minute. Clay tells Jax what he knows about RICO, the CIA and why Jax didn't kill him. "Yeah, my mistake," Jax says. Clay explains Romeo is going to get rid of Jax and replace him with someone who will keep the guns and coke flowing. Clay says he turned it down. He tells Jax to make things work with Romeo to cash in for the short term. "You gotta let this cartel thing play out, then you can take the money and Tara and the boys and get out of Charming. If you don't, you're going to lose everything," Clay says. "I appreciate you looking out for me, but I got a different plan. I'm tired of being crushed under the weight of greedy men who believe in nothing. I have to change that," Jax says. When Jax leaves, Clay calls Romeo to ask for another day to convince Jax. Romeo agrees, but then says otherwise to Luis, telling him to "make the call." Jax tells Bobby that Clay and Romeo know everything. Nero sees Gemma at the garage. He asks if everything's okay and she says yes, trying to get him to leave without alienating him. Clay sees Nero kisses her quickly good-bye. Tara meets with the woman from Providence, saying she wants to move forward with the offer but keep it under the radar -- from Jax. In the Stockton prison, the apparent inmate who beat Otto senseless comes in to meet with Otto, this time dressed in a suit. Otto thinks he's a Fed, but he says he's just a citizen. "These next few months will be the most excruciatingly painful time of your sick and miserable life," he says as he leaves. Otto still has no idea who he is. Juice goes through Clay's place, looking for the documents. He's coming up empty when he eyes a ceiling grate. Jax and Bobby met with the Asian gang's Henry Lin (Kenneth Choi). They want someone to replace the IRA guns. Jax tells him money isn't an issue, plus 10 percent for the club's referral fee. Lin agrees to supply them. Jax gets a call from Juice. He found the documents. Jax tells him to put them back and go get Clay, Tig, and Chibs from the club and bring Clay back to his house, being careful not to leave Clay alone there. He'll meet them there. Jax and Lin shake on the deal after he says he can get a few big guns fast to show the buyer. Jax and Bobby head out. They're on their bikes at a stop light when two SUVs full of Hispanics surround them and grab Jax, stabbing Bobby's tires. He's outmanned. Everyone's waiting at Clay's when Chibs gets the call about Jax from Bobby. All they know is he was taken by Mexicans. Nero's going to look into his guys and they all head back to the clubhouse, but Clay pushes Juice out his front door, saying he has to take his meds. He eyes his ceiling grate. Nero's old gangster crew hangs out at a house watching a dinosaur movie, when he busts in with a shotgun and shoots one in the chest as he reaches for a gun. Nero is looking for Jax, but they have no idea what he's talking about. When one of his guys accuses him of forgetting who he is, he shoots him in the head. "You wanted me back, I'm back," Nero says on the way out. Jax is being held in a small room when Romeo and Luis walk in. He's relieved. He tells them he wouldn't cut ties with the cartel without leaving them set up. He points out Galen hates the Mexicans and will pull out of the current deal at some point. So instead, he's lined up the Chinese, who can get weapons from Gaza. "Set the meet, that's a lot of moving parts. It better all work," Romeo says as they cut him loose. Around the table, Jax lays out all the RICO and CIA info to the club, including Otto killing the nurse. Jax explains he's been getting the Mayans to take over the coke muling and Lin to take over the guns. "This means we can walk away from drugs and the cartel," Jax says. He knows there will be a pay cut initially, but Diosa should help pick up the slack and he's working on a few other things as well. They put it to a vote. Everyone, including Clay, with a chuckle, votes for it. Jax hugs his mom and whispers for her to take Clay to her house and keep him there until they call. The Sons toast Jax. When Clay and Gemma leaves, Jax rounds up Chibs, Bobby and Juice for "show and tell." He checks that Tig still loves him, kisses him on the cheek, and tells him he doesn't need him yet. At the hospital, Otto's torturer quietly follows Tara. At her house, Clay asks Gemma about Nero. "It was never anything real, still isn't," she says. Juice calls Clay for the fourth time, but he doesn't pick up. Clay tells Gemma he loves her, she says the same. There's a light knock at the back door. Clay goes to answer. When he sees who it is, he puts his gun away. It's Nero, looking for Gemma. He asks about Jax and Clay tells him it was a misunderstanding, Jax is fine. Nero, having just killed two of his own over it, is sick about what he's done. Gemma asks Clay for a minute with Nero, who is wound up and freaking out. He sees Clay is back there and asks if they're, like, married again. She checks to make sure Clay can't hear, then tells him no, but she can't explain yet. She tells him she loves him and kisses him then sends him out the door, more confused than when he came. Back at Clay's, the documents are missing from the air vent. Juice realizes he left Clay alone when Jax didn't show. Jax decks him and sends him home. Bobby tells Jax he has no proof against Clay and he should let it go. "What you did for the club today, it's epic shit, brother, epic. Don't let your hate kill that," Bobby says. Jax says there are a few other things he can't prove and lays out the letter his dad JT wrote to Maureen Ashby, predicting why and how Clay would kill him. "Clay killed my old man." He goes on, telling Bobby and Chibs that Clay found out about the letters and that's why he killed Piney and ordered the attack on Tara that damaged her hand. "He's responsible for everything," Jax says. Back at Gemma's house, Clay answers another knock at the door. It's Bobby, saying he needs to talk to Clay. Bobby sees Clay's gun and tells him to keep it handy. "You here to kill me, VP?" "No, I'm here to keep you alive. Sit down," Bobby says. Church meetings Jax: They held it over our heads. If me and Bobby told anyone about the CIA hook-up, they'd crush us with RICO. Every charter. The Sons of Anarchy would have been dead. So I put all my energy into finding a way out. Bobby: Otto killing that nurse, was his way of reversing his statement. Wiped out RICO, but pushed the game forward. Jax: Romeo panicked. That's why he picked me up cartel style. Trying to convince me not to walk away from the deal. Clay: Were you convinced? Jax: No. He was. See, that's what I've been working on. Getting the Mayans to take over the coke mule, and Lin to cover big guns. Romeo signed off. This means we can walk away from drugs and the cartel. Filthy Phil: You set that up on your own? Jax: Me and Bobby. It's not the way I wanted it. Bobby: But we're not gonna do anything unless the club is behind it. Jax: The deal with Galindo was always a means to an end. We knew that. But stepping away is gonna mean a pay-cut. We're gonna feel that sting initially. But once Diosa takes hold, we're gonna be solid. I'm working on a few other things, too. Chibs: Let's vote it. Jax: Okay. We hand off the drugs to the Mexicans, and the guns to the Chinese. Yea. Bobby: Yea. Juice: Yea. Filthy Phil: Yea. Clay: (chuckles) Yea. Happy: Yeah. Tig: Yea. Chibs: Yes. Jax: Good. (smashes gavel) (everyone leaves) Clay (as he and Jax leave): Well done. (shakes Jax's hand) Jax: Not yet. ---- Deaths 2 unnamed Byz Lats - Shot by Chibs during failed gun-deal. Lupe - Shot by Nero. Renaldo - Shot by Nero. Credits Main Cast * Charlie Hunnam as Jackson 'Jax' Teller * Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller Morrow * Mark Boone Junior as Bobby 'Elvis' Munson * Dayton Callie as Wayne Unser * Kim Coates as Alex 'Tig' Trager * Tommy Flanagan as Filip 'Chibs' Telford * Theo Rossi as Juan Carlos 'Juice' Ortiz * Maggie Siff as Tara Knowles * Ron Perlman as Clarence 'Clay' Morrow Supporting Cast Special guest stars *Danny Trejo as Romero 'Romeo' Parada *Benito Martinez as Luis Torres *Donal Logue as Lee Toric *Jimmy Smits as Neron 'Nero' Padilla Guest stars *David Labrava as Happy *Winter Ave Zoli as Lyla Winston *Robin Weigert as Ally Lowen *Michael Ornstein as Chuck Marstein *Tara Summers as Karen Dunhill *Niko Nicotera as George 'Ratboy' Skogstrom *Kenneth Choi as Henry Lin *Christopher Douglas Reed as Philip 'Filthy Phil' Russell *Rey Gallegos as Fiasco *Kurt Caceres as Renaldo *Jorge-Luis Pallo as Lupe Co-stars *Rusty Coones as Rane Quinn Featured Music * Toxic Holocaust - "Bitch" (Sons meet Nero's crew) * John Morelan - "Heaven'" (Outro) Category:Season 5 episodes Category:Season 5